NEW YORK – In an act of blatant propaganda, half-a-dozen conservative talk radio hosts spent the past week broadcasting from Iraq on a Defense Department-sponsored trip aimed at finding the "good news that the old-line liberal news media won't tell you about."

So what have they found? "Not much at all," said Paul Rieckhoff, OIF Veteran and Executive Director of Operation Truth, the nation's first and largest Iraq war veteran's group. "This has amounted to little more than a week-long pep rally, and it's a shame that taxpayer money was wasted on this misguided stunt. Baghdad is no place to improve your radio career, and if they're so interested in improving moral, why not go over with the U.S.O.?"

One of the groups co-sponsoring the event has asked for, "contributions for coffee, cookies and calling cards," for the Troops.

"These are Troops who need more than just cookies. They face serious problems both in the field and upon return, including a V.A. that is under-funded by nearly $3 billion," said Rieckhoff. "These commentators might mean well, but they're doing the Troops a real disservice by ignoring the significant hurdles our men and women in uniform face."

Even before arriving in country, the so-called 'Truth Tour' had taken to depicting the conflict in rosy terms. After a barbecue at CENTCOM in Tampa, commentator Howard Kaloogian spoke with excitement about the upcoming, "vacation adventure".

"This is a war zone, not a photo op. For the Troops in Baghdad, Tikrit and Fallujah, who are being deployed for their second and third tours, this war is far from a 'vacation adventure'," Rieckhoff responded.

"Such shameless cheerleading and agenda-driven journalism is an insult to those who have sacrificed on the frontlines of this war and experienced its terrible toll," Rieckhoff said.

Operation Truth (www.optruth.org) is the nation's first and largest non-partisan organization representing Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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